Page 87 of The Story Of Us

“Are you sure you’re okay? This is a lot to take in,” she says, concern lining her face. I wish I could smooth the crease between her brows, place her hand on my chest so that she can see my heart is completely steady.

“I know, but I’m fine. I’ll stay at school until the term ends, and then I’ll stay at Luke’s house until we move to London. You were right. Everything is going to be okay.”

I smile at her, and she finally realises that I’m telling the truth. Her returning smile lights up my whole world, a constant bright spot regardless of what else is happening in my life.

“What time are you getting to school tomorrow?” I ask, changing the subject because there’s no use dwelling on what’s happened. I just want to focus on my future now, the one I want and I’ve planned for myself.

“Probably in the afternoon. I’ll get there as soon as I can.”

“Okay, I’ll be in my room, so just come over whenever you’re ready.”

She nods, that beautiful smile still on her face, and we talk for a bit longer before I tell her that Izzy is waiting for me to watch a movie. I promise Violet that I’ll call her before we go to sleep, not wanting to disrupt our nightly routine. She asks how Izzy is, and I love how much she cares about her, too. I reassure her that she’s fine before we hang up.

When I go to Izzy’s room she’s got a movie set up on her TV, and I can tell from the production company that the screen is paused on that it’s a horror. I hate watching them, and she knows that, but I’ll let her off this time. We watch the movie in two differing states, Izzy at the edge of her seat and me curled up into a ball with my hands over my eyes trying to block out as much as possible.

I go back to my room after the movie ends and call Violet, and when she falls asleep, I take a moment to really take in what’s happened in the past few hours.

It might be difficult, but I will be okay.

33

ISAAC

The first week back at school is filled with Violet and my friends constantly checking on me to make sure I’m okay. I think my muted reaction to the situation is really throwing them, but deep down, I knew it was always going to end this way. As much as I would have loved for that conversation to go differently, for my dad to hear me out for even just a second, I knew he wouldn’t.

He’s always been too stubborn, and we’ve never really had the kind of relationship that my friends seem to have with their parents. When I was younger, I thought it was my fault and blamed myself for how cold he was towards me, but as I’ve gotten older, I realised that’s just the way he is. I spent so long trying to be whatever he wanted me to be, and that just meant I was constantly putting my own feelings on the back burner.

But now, it feels good to think about myself first. I’m excited about the future because I know the plans I’ve made are well within my reach.

I did expect my mum to try and challenge him about it, but by the time I had packed all my stuff into my car the next morning, it was obvious that wasn’t going to happen. She said goodbye to me as if it was any other day, and although it stung a little, I think it would have been worse if she had fought for me and lost. Izzy isn’t speaking to either of them right now, and I’m determined to get her out of that house as soon as I can so that she won’t have to deal with the same things I have.

When I told Luke what had happened, I didn’t even need to ask if I could stay with him because he insisted on it immediately. Jinhee and Olivia even offered to let me stay at their houses when I eventually get annoyed with Luke, but he took that extremely personally, so I promised I’d stay with him all summer. Luke’s parents even offered to help me find a place in London and said they’d help with any costs that student loans won’t cover. The love and support from my friends and even their parents is enough to reassure me that I can get through this.

Violet has been a huge help, too, and every day, I’m more and more grateful to have her back in my life again. She told me that something similar had happened with her mum and that her parents kicked her out, too. That’s why I’m on the phone with her right now while Violet sits next to me, rubbing soothing circles onto my palm.

I’d told Violet before that I wanted to meet her mum, and I hoped it would have been under much better circumstances than this. But seeing how well her mum has done with her life and how wonderfully she’s raised Violet just gave me even more hope that this is just a small hurdle and that I can come out even better on the other side.

“You’re welcome at our house any time over the summer. Just give me a heads up, and I’ll make whatever you want for dinner.”

“I will, thank you, Mrs Ayaz.”

“Take care, Isaac. I hope to see you soon.”

“Me too.”

I pass the phone to Violet so she can say goodbye to her mum. I can only hear a few muffled words about doors having to stay open before Violet yells, ‘Oh my god’ and hangs up.

“Did you hear what she said?”

“Not really.”

I decide to save us both the embarrassment but can’t hold back my laughter when Violet groans and collapses backward onto the bed, covering her eyes with her hands. I follow her down so we’re laying side by side, and when she finally turns her head to look at me, I’m hit with an overwhelming sense of gratitude.

The fact that I can be like this with her right now, can see her, touch her, talk to her whenever I want, feels like a dream. As much as I regret what happened and the time we spent apart, it just makes me appreciate the time we have now even more.

She reaches for my hand, which rests between us, and I give it to her easily, our fingers slotting together like my hands were exclusively made for holding hers. At some point, we both turned, so we’re lying on our sides facing each other, and my eyes flit across her face, taking in every feature as if they’re brand new.

I’m always surprised by how she seems to get more and more beautiful each day.

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